Whatcom County Council

**Executive Sidhu, on flooding response:** "My heart goes to hundreds of families and people who have been impacted by the recent floods. It's been devastating for many businesses, which have been forced to shut down." **Jason Postma, on flood urgency:** "We no longer have the luxury of patience. Spring and summer and a year without a flood cannot allow the urgency of this moment to fade away once again." **Sheriff Tanksley, on immigration enforcement:** "It is very clear what local law enforcement can and cannot do, that they have not participated in any immigration activity with their Federal partners, and that the Sheriff's Office does not need a reminder of the law." **Samantha Doering, flood victim:** "I am not going to trust you when you tell me that you're taking steps. I'm going to watch you, and I'm going to be here to pay attention to whether or not those plans that have presented before you are actually having action taken against them." **Council Member Elenbaas, on adv

# Floods, Fear, and Federal Authority: A Whatcom County Council Confronts Crisis The first meeting of Whatcom County Council's 2026 term stretched past 11 p.m., becoming a marathon session that revealed the depth of crisis facing multiple communities within the county. What began as a routine January meeting with new member swearing-ins and administrative business transformed into something far more profound: a public reckoning with government's role in protecting vulnerable residents from both environmental disaster and federal overreach. The hybrid meeting in Council chambers drew an unusually large crowd, both in person and online, with residents traveling from flood-devastated communities and immigrant neighborhoods to demand action from their elected officials. Two dominant themes emerged from the evening's testimony: the urgent need for flood mitigation in the Nooksack River valley, and growing fear within immigrant communities about federal immigration enforcement activities. ## Meeting Overview Council Chair Kaylee Galloway called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m., with all seven members present including newly-sworn councilmembers Elizabeth Boyle and Jessica Rienstra. The agenda appeared routine: minutes approval, two brief public hearings, committee reports, and numerous advisory board appointments. But the addition of a last-minute resolution affirming immigrant rights signaled the contentious debates ahead. County Executive Satpal Sidhu opened with a sobering report on recent floods that devastated Sumas, Everson, and Nooksack, describing visits from federal officials and preliminary discussions about long-term solutions requiring $200-300 million in investments. His comments would prove prophetic as flood victims dominated the three-hour public comment period that followed. ## A Community's Desperate Plea for Flood Protection The evening's most powerful testimony came from residents of communities along the Nooksack River who have endured four floods in five years. Their stories revealed not just property damage but profound trauma, health impacts, and a growing sense of abandonment by government officials. Jesse Clausen of Sumas set the tone with stark imagery: "Imagine walking into your living room and seeing your furniture floating, your walls soaked, everything you've worked for destroyed." He described his family's experience with floods bringing four inches to four feet of water into their home repeatedly, forcing them to "rip out floors, replace drywall, throw away family heirlooms, and bury pets." Christina Cook's testimony revealed how flooding compounds personal tragedy. Her family moved to Sumas in 2019 after her sister's death, taking in three additional children. "Sumas was the only place that we could find a home big enough for us all that we could afford," she explained. After weathering multiple floods and her husband suffering a traumatic brain injury while rebuilding from the 2021 flood, they faced devastation again in 2025. "We weren't fully recovered from the 2021 floods and then the next one happened," Cook said, voice breaking. The psychological toll emerged as a consistent theme. Stacey Daly spoke about "survivor's guilt" and children developing depression and "suicide ideation." She described catching herself minimizing losses — "I only lost" — while watching neighbors "throwing the entire contents of their home onto the lawn like it's trash." Several speakers addressed the technical aspects of flooding with informed precision. Sherman Polinder, who has lived in the flood plain for 81 years, explained how the river bottom has risen three to four feet in 25 years. "There's a million cubic yards every year" of sediment, he testified, advocating for renewed gravel harvesting that was common practice decades ago. Jason Postma of Sumas provided stark statistics that underscored the crisis's acceleration: "I've counted 17 high water events at the North Cedarville Gage exceeding 147 feet since the scale was revised. 13 were between 2003 and 2019. Not one resulted in flood water reaching Sumas. It's happened four times since 2020 and Sumas flooded all four of those times." Mayor Bruce Bosch of Sumas, wearing blue to represent hope, delivered an impassioned plea that drew on flood metaphors: "We fight fire with fire. We need to fight flood with flood. A flood of voices, a flood of movement, a flood of action." He emphasized the need for community-wide engagement beyond just the directly affected cities. The testimony revealed a community caught between hope and despair. Ryan Wittig, who lost everything in 2021 and faced flooding again in 2025, spoke of the "community" that kept his family in Sumas despite repeated devastation. "For the first time in my life, I'd ever seen community. I had never seen anything like that before where people came alongside us." ## Immigration Enforcement and Constitutional Rights The evening's second major theme centered on a resolution affirming the rights of all county residents regardless of immigration status. This issue generated equally emotional testimony, with speakers describing encounters with federal immigration agents that they characterized as violations of constitutional protections. Kelsey Forbes delivered particularly disturbing testimony about witnessing an apparent ICE operation outside her apartment complex. "Two unmarked SUVs came and blocked the road... people in paramilitary gear with no name badges not telling you who they are and dragging a man out of his car by his neck," she described. When she tried to observe, agents "trying to like force my door open and taking my phone out of my hand." Jocelyn Pena, a medical assistant, described being detained while at work: "I see some people wearing like normal regular clothes and they're just like saying that they're from Homeland Security and they like load me up into their car, take me to one of their facilities... They detained me without a warrant or anything and took my phone. My family, my work didn't know where I was for like five hours." Community advocates provided broader context for these individual stories. Ian Schaefer-Lorenz from Community to Community documented "at least seven ICE abductions of community members in our city center" in recent months, noting that agents "regularly engage in illegal searches and arrests" and have "kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered people, citizens and non-citizens alike." The immigrant rights resolution sparked extensive debate among council members, with multiple amendments addressing specific language about federal law enforcement activities and the role of local officials. The back-and-forth revealed tensions between supporting immigrant communities and concerns about overstepping local authority. ## Zoning Amendments and Housing Costs Earlier in the meeting, during the public hearing on county zoning amendments, Brian Gass offered a broader critique of land use policies that he argued contribute to housing unaffordability. His testimony connected seemingly routine zoning changes to larger questions about government's role in housing markets. "One of the problems that government doesn't really acknowledge is their role in the cost of our housing and the affordability," Gass argued. He cited studies showing that "land use restrictions counts for probably 40 to 60% of the cost of land. It's like a shadow tax." With "average lot sizes of $250,000, $300,000... There ain't nothing getting built that's affordable." Gass challenged council members to consider how zoning decisions impact future generations: "I want everybody here who's in charge of this to say to themselves I don't want future generations to have a lower standard of living or a lower financial outcome because of decisions you're making." Council member John Scanlon noted that new voter requirements mandate cost analysis for land use changes, and that such analysis was included in the meeting packet — reflecting growing public awareness of the economic impacts of zoning decisions. ## Council Deliberations on Immigrant Rights The immigrant rights resolution generated the meeting's most complex procedural sequence, with seven separate amendment motions as council members worked through specific language. The debate revealed philosophical differences about local government's role in addressing federal immigration enforcement. Council members John Scanlon and Elizabeth Boyle led most amendment efforts, focusing on technical language improvements. They successfully changed "foreign" residents to those "born outside of the United States," added "all" before "local law enforcement" in references to state law restrictions, and included specific language about the Courts Open to All Act. A more contentious amendment involved language about county property and federal enforcement activities. Council member Mark Stremler moved to strike language condemning "arrest and deportation activities on or adjacent to county property," arguing that "county properties are all over the county and all those properties have adjacent properties, so... this paragraph is out of line." The motion failed 5-2. The most delicate debate centered on language addressing the Sheriff's Office and Prosecutor's Office. Initially, the resolution would have "reminded" these offices to refrain from assisting federal immigration enforcement. After input from Sheriff Donnell Tanksley and Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Quinn about the appropriateness of council "directing" these offices, members changed the language to "encourages" rather than "reminds." Sheriff Tanksley provided crucial context during the debate: "They adhere to the Keep Washington Working Act... if there was a critical incident the Sheriff's Office would respond to help Federal partners... they have not participated in any immigration activity with their Federal partners, and... the Sheriff's Office does not need a reminder of the law." ## Advisory Board Appointments The meeting's final hours involved numerous appointments to county advisory groups, many related to the evening's major themes. The Flood Control Zone District Advisory Committee received six new appointments, with Council member Ben Elenbaas emphasizing that appointees should "participate in the creation of a plan" rather than "rubber stamp" anything. Michael Bozzo, appointed to the flood control committee, brought relevant expertise as a civil engineer with marine construction and dredging experience. "I've dredged all over the West Coast and Hawaii," he testified, along with experience at the Port of Bellingham and Washington State Ferries in obtaining permits and working with local governments. The Climate Impact Advisory Committee appointments reflected the connection between climate change and flooding concerns, with several appointees specifically noting flood-related expertise and community impact experience. The Public Health Advisory Board appointments were postponed when council members realized applicants weren't assigned to specific statutory categories, reflecting ongoing questions about representation and community engagement in advisory roles. ## A Government Under Pressure As the meeting concluded past 11 p.m., council members had approved the immigrant rights resolution 5-2, with amendments, and made numerous advisory board appointments. But the evening's real significance lay in its demonstration of how local government becomes a focal point when residents face crises beyond local control. The flood victims' testimony revealed communities traumatized by repeated disasters while feeling abandoned by the complex web of federal, state, and local agencies responsible for river management and flood control. Their calls for action transcended partisan politics — these were property owners, business operators, and families simply seeking protection from natural disasters. Similarly, the immigrant rights testimony revealed residents encountering federal enforcement activities they viewed as unconstitutional, turning to local government for protection against federal overreach. The resolution's passage, while largely symbolic, represented local officials' attempt to respond to constituents' fears about federal actions. Both issues highlighted the challenges facing local government in an era of federal-local tensions and climate-driven disasters. Council members found themselves pressed to take action on problems largely outside their direct authority, while residents demanded concrete responses to immediate threats to their safety and security. The meeting demonstrated democracy in action at its most basic level: residents bringing their problems to elected officials and demanding solutions. Whether those officials can deliver meaningful change remains to be seen, but the evening's testimony ensured they understand the stakes facing their constituents.